Monday, 28 July 2014

Then:

The Commonwealth games was originally known as the 'British Empire Games' and began in 1930, with 11 nations competing. The idea of a competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was started by John Astley Cooper 1891, who proposed a fishing competition, saying that there should be a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of increasing goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire" The first British Empire Games was held in Canada in 1930, and then the games were interrupted by the Second World War and so the four-yearly schedule was paused until it was revived in 1950 and re-named the British Empire and Commonweath Games in 1954. By 1958 over 30 teams were involved, with over 1000 athletes in total.

Now:

The Commonwealth Games today is a multi-sport event, which involves athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations (which contains 53 countries) and involves around 17 different sports. This year's Commonwealth Games is, as you probably already know, being held in Glasgow, and is the largest multi-sport event to ever be held in Scotland, with approximately 4950 athletes talking part from 71 different nations. The event runs for 11 days, and can be watched live on BBC1 and BBC3, and the closing ceremony takes place on the 3rd August. After making the World Cup a bit of a sore point, do you think England will do better in the Commonwealth Games?!

Described as a proud and fun opening, Scotland kicked off the games well last week. If you missed it, catch the opening ceremony highlight here: